This question can not be answered with a "ignorant" or "informed". I think there are really 3 categories, with the people in the middle forming the largest group.

There is a large group of Americans that do not pay attention to politics and are not educated enough to form coherent political views...(as evidenced by the Stern interview, Wow) Hopefully, the majority of these people will stay home on election day.

On the other end, there is a large group of people that are "plugged in" and are knowledgeable about the candidates and their policies.

In the middle, you have millions of americans that just read or listen to the headlines, forming their political views (if you can call them that, maybe inclinations would be better) based on a conversation that they had with someone at the watercooler. Busy with their everyday lives, they don't take extra time to educate themselves about the different candidates and form their own opinions. Can you blame some of these people? There is so much conflicting information about the two candidates that it is tough to figure out what is the real story.

I side with Ignorant Voters on this debate because when it comes down to it... Those americans in the middle can not be considered "Informed"

To paraphrase P.T. Barnum, there's a moron born every minute. And not just people who say they're voting for Obama. How many idiots out there still think Obama is a Muslim? How many people even know what the Keating 5 scandal was about? I do take issue with the one-sided-ness of the Stern piece, and agree with the writer who asked why he didn't go to the South and seek out McCain supporters and ask why they are voting Republican. I think in that respect that the piece actually adds to the ignorance of John and Jane Q. Public. But I digress- are most voters ignorant? I think, to a certain extent, yes. And this is not unique to the American experience- in our long, oh so slow evolution as a species, we've done a lot of stupid sh*&- let's all remember that Hitler was actually elected at first, Galileo got the crap kicked out of him for saying the Earth was not the center of the universe, and that carpenter from Galilee got crucified for teaching peace, love, and understanding. So, yes, there are, and have always been, a lot of stupid folks out there. But, as Anne Frank said, in spite of everything I still believe people are good inside.

Actually what makes it so bad isn't that they aren't informed. It's that they aren't informed but think they are.

And the media... well, the media is just a joke. I have yet to find a media source that isn't biased to some degree. And I've seen this in every presidential election since I was old enough to start paying attention. The media picks their favorite and does everything they can to help that person out. Even if they don't come out and say, "We're voting for XXXXX" they just refuse to cover stories that make that candidate look bad, while spending far too much time trying to make the other candidate look bad.

You admit that you listen to Howard Stern and then ask if Americans are ignorant? Seems like the question answers itself. Next question . . . I watch Jerry Springer, are Americans classy?

That's the thing, to me it looks like the supposedly humorous shows are way better at giving you the facts.

They claim they are entertainment, but do a pretty good job at educating their viewers.

Mass Media however, claims they have the news, but only focus on easily digestible stuff and talking points.

No wonder, a lot of people are ignorant - staying informed is hard work! You have to look at different sources and you can't even trust the candidate you favor - they are all lying :(

I think I'm going to go cry now. That video will give me nightmares for the next month. I think I have to go with ignorant, but I hope that I'm wrong. Even "informed" voters get their information from biased news sources or blogs, or even worse celebrities! I do respect the fact that celebrities in both parties use their fame to speak about issues that they care about, but it scares me that many people accept those views as their own simply because a celebrity said so.

I personally read each of their web sites on the issues. Also, the site sciencedebate2008 is great because the candidates sent in their own responses, so it is the words out of their own mouths! (Or keyboards, and I am sure they had help, but you know what I mean! ;) )

I think the American people are "picking sides" with this one.... Most people I know cant answer why they like a candidate, but they say they'll vote for them.

I disagree with your premise that the only reason these people were uninformed was because of the area they lived in. We can see ignorance throughout the nation even across social classes. A friend of mine made a video where he went to an all girls Catholic high school and asked students if they wanted to end women's suffrage. Of the twenty he asked only two of the girls said they didn't want to end women's suffrage. This school is not in the inner city and the students are supposed to well educated.

I think that you are taking the Howard Stern show a little too seriously. Obviously the interviews are not representative of all of America, but they are still an important part of the whole. As for the debate, I also disagree. It is an important debate to have because we should strive to educate every voter so that their decisions may be as well informed as possible. This can be done in many ways but the media plays a very significant role in educating the public about where candidates stand on particular issues.

Bravo!!! Bravo!! Beautifully said.

Yes, and this is how your "cowboy" presidents are elected... People just do not pay enough attention.

These are probably the same people that render spam successful, and I don't personally know anyone who falls for spam, so these people may be rare.

You also have to imagine going out to Harlem yourself and selecting people who don't know what they're talking about... Everyone knows where to find the idiot in the room, so this is nothing really that important. We don't know the circumstances, so don't assume this is accurate, you'd be making the same mistake as they are, choosing Obama based on McCain's reputation. Do your homework, if you don't, then dismiss this crap and forget about it.

omg that is so true lol

--------------------------

australia ftw

Of coarse! American's get more and more drawn into this bullshit, media smear is incredible and unless you understand how that works, it makes it hard to understand what NEEDS to be understood about each. You have to do your own homework now, about everything... as usual, but now you have tons of people who DON'T do their homework, and they work, whatever, all day, come home and watch TV. The television is getting in the way of the real issues here, so is the paper, in most cases.

People accept it though, it's the television, it's about politics, they are polls, etc. NO! This is nothing more than PANDERING. The candidates that you see on television aren't the actual politics that you'll be voting for. This is a show, an act, for all of the people out there that don't do research themselves. It's just a show for the people that don't DO THEIR HOMEWORK. It keeps getting MORE attention than it should, people keep buying it because they don't actually do anything else but saturate themselves with mainstream media BULLSHIT.

GO READ SOMETHING. Anything, just don't listen to your peers and DON'T TRUST THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA TO GIVE YOU CREDIBLE INFORMATION.

It's not the people's fault for not knowing... The "issues" are all over the place, everywhere. Radio, AM and FM, Music, Magazines, News Papers, Documentaries, Television, Film... It's everywhere. I am not surprised that people think that they are getting the information they need, it's everywhere. Why do you think McCain lies so often? HE CAN GET AWAY WITH IT IF THERE IS MEDIA TO SMEAR THE LEFT AND EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO CALL MCCAINS BLUFF.

It's all an act, ignore it. Go get someone who knows what they are talking about and is not afraid to talk to you about things WITHOUT BIAS.

ha ha ha Can people get any stupider, I mean come on even I know the difference between the 2 and who the VP's are and i am Australian!

I mean come on America What The Fuck?????

Yeah. I wish it were constitutional to make all voters past a test before being eligible to vote. But it's not.

That's the point. People in Australia know more about it because in America this shit is smeared from both sides of the media 24/7. You wake up in the morning to people on NPR talking about it, then you flip on the television to check the weather because NPR is too busy to tell you, and then everyone on TV is smearing both candidates... and you usually know which station will be smearing who, so you check online and you find the weather on a page covered in political advertisements, and you get in the car, drive to work, and any talk station on the radio is doing the same thing, then you see people throughout the day talking about what they've heard on their news stations, and then you stop somewhere to pick up coffee and it's in the newspapers and magazines, all smearing the candidates...

The media is our problem, and the candidates wouldn't have to pander to these idiots if the media had restrictions... but then we would wonder why they don't have this freedom in America.

:/